Some of the GOOD things regarding tonight's deal

No default.

Debt Ceiling lifted to 2013.

Up front cuts to the Defense Budget.

Did not touch Social Security. Medicare and Medicaid are still intact!

The Bush tax cuts are being left untouched, meaning they WILL expire December 31, 2012!

There is NO Balanced Budget Amendment stipulation in the new agreement.

Regarding the 'trigger':
IF the committee's recommendations are not acted upon, the trigger mechanism's mandatory spending cuts will be cuts will be split 50/50 between domestic and defense spending, and will kick in January 2013.
Social Security and Medicare beneficiaries and "low-income programs" would be exempted from those cuts.
Note: Since the GOP will not want to see defense cuts then they will make sure that there is no chance the trigger will go off!

AND the teabaggers did NOT get all the things they wanted and they are very ticked off tonight :)

As stupid and offensive as the whole charade was, this doesn't sound all that bad. Plus the Teabaggers, as they should, get some of the "credit" for cuts in defense.

How the hell did Obama pull back this much from the earlier offers on the table?

Because if those programs are not exempt from the main, 1.2 trillion in cuts to be made by the committee, then not hitting the trigger will give Republicans cuts in those programs AND let them avoid defense cuts.

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You might not feel so happy when the piper is finally paid at the end of this year. But, don't let me rain on your parade, by all means, if you want to feel happy tonight, enjoy it.

See? Our nation's seniors will not have to go hungry after all. Hail victory!

That at minimum should not have been thrown as concessions onto the table to satisfy an intransigent and deranged political opponent. If your idea is that this was a correct response, your optimism with regard to the tax cuts is confusing to me. Are there no more hostages to take to ensure the tax cuts continue? Because if there are, you will be making a similar list of things we never should have risked but didn't lose when the tax cuts are extended again. You will call that a list of good things as well, I imagine.

what the problems are.

Honestly now, from the OTHER side of the debate we have been having here at DU, from their perspective, what is wrong with this?

:eyes:

The Bush tax cuts will NOT expire, just as they didn't last year.

The employment situation is going to be so bad next year because of the "austerity" that the president will likely be a lame duck in Dec 2012.

No revenue increases, trillions in cuts to education, programs for the needy, and on and on.

You may be right about the teabaggers - they're used to getting EVERYTHING, so they're probably pissed.

:puke:

could be a referendum on raising taxes for the wealthiest? If teabaggers get kicked out and more dems are elected, this could happen (in addition to Bush tax cuts.)

I still don't see any stimulus for job generation, which is going to make things very very tough for many poor and middle class.

:(